Promises, Promises
by xbecbebex
Summary: "Promise me that if something happens to me, you'll never give up saving people, okay?" No matter what happened.
1. INTRODUCTION

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This here is a sick little idea I got in my head, so bear with me till the end of the story. There MAY or MAY not be a happy ending, it's up to you, faithful readers and your input. This will be my first ever Criminal Minds chapter story. So, reviews are necessary to keep it afloat. So please, if you read it and enjoy it or if you read it and have a comment, please review! **

**DISCLAIMER: I can't say I own anything in this piece. Criminal Minds and the characters in this work are not mine. Any side characters are just momentary blips on my radar screen, unworthy of being 'owned'. **

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She was being tortured, knives dragged down her skin, hands groping places that no one but her husband should touch. The men had left her wedding ring intact and it gave her some hope she'd make it out alive. She'd lost track of the days she was held by these men because she was rarely lucid enough to make out the time of day. One of the men wore a watch and sometimes when he was thrusting into her, she'd see what the time was, but it never seemed to make sense. Time meant nothing to her when she was locked away.

They humiliated her, raped her, beat her, teased her and starved her, only giving her the bare essentials to live. All Lila Archer could do was hope that the FBI and her husband were going to burst through that door any day now and Spencer would take her in his arms and her weeks (was it that long?) of pain would fade away in an instant. In truth, she knew it would take years for her to recover from such an ordeal, but she thought naively that she'd bounce back as quickly as she always did.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A scream erupted from the man's lips that lay beside her and she hurriedly sat up, turned on a light and started humming to calm him down. One of her hands started to massage his brow line while the other took his shaking hand as he sat up. Even in the moonlight peering through their bedroom window, Lila could tell Spencer was pale. Well, paler than usual at least.

"What was it this time, baby?" Lila asked, her voice quiet as if she could possibly scare him away if she talked too loudly. A shudder of a sigh made his body move under her warm hands and she pulled him close to her chest, allowing him to listen to her heart beat.

"You.. Were taken from me. And countless acts of unfathomable violence pushed you to near death and you still held on. For me." A kiss was pressed against his forehead and then his chin and last his lips as his wife tried to comfort him knowing most words she could utter wouldn't make him feel better.

"I will always hold on for you, Spencer. Always. After all, who else is going to make sure your skinny ass eats three meals a day? Or to take it easy every once in a while and just be?"

"I remember to eat." He responded weakly, his hands tangling in the small of her back, pulling her closer to him needily.

"Only if one of your team members reminds you to when you're at work or on a case. That's where I come in to pester you with delicious foods to keep you going. So you can save countless more lives."

A timid half smile appeared on Spencer's lips and he lay back down with her cuddled in close to him.

"Promise me that if something does happen to me, you'll never give up saving people, okay?" Lila whispered against his throat, her teeth nibbling the soft skin.

", why are you saying this? What could you possibly want me to say?" Her grip on his shoulders tightened as she met his worried glance.

"Just promise, Spencer. Promise me!" She said urgently, her voice raising to a range she only reached when scared or worried.

"Ok..Okay, I promise, Lila. I just hope I never have to make good on that promise."

With a happy sigh, Lila lay back down next to Spencer, the urgency and fear leaving her body in waves. She too hoped that he would never have to fulfill that promise, but with so many nightmares he was having and with so many bad people out there, Lila had to make sure if anything ever happened to her, Spencer Reid would not abandon his job and his team. No matter what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Only one review? C'mon guys, please. If you like the story, please review. Anywho, here comes chapter two! As you can tell from the first chapter, this will be a darker story, much darker than my other work. Its future depends on you, faithful readers. **

**DISCLAIMER: No, nope, nada, still don't own Criminal Minds. I'm just borrowing these characters for my own sick fantasies. **

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Spencer couldn't shake the feeling of extreme panic that settled over him for the rest of the week. At work, the team studied him trying to figure out what his deal was. When asked, a look of pain would pass his features and then he'd smile as best as he could. He was hiding something, they were profilers they knew. What he was hiding was unclear.

He'd rush home right after work, breathing unevenly until Lila was in his arms and murmuring sweet nothings in his ear. Only then would his body release itself from the tight armor it had held itself in all day. Only then would he breathe a sigh of sweet relief.

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Spencer started having panic attacks when she was out of town for a few days. He never told her about these because he knew she would give up her apartment in Hollywood, give up her potential blockbuster movie career. He would never forgive himself if she did that.

The nightmares happened whether or not she was next to him, but it was worse when she wasn't there. He couldn't fill his hands with her warm body. He couldn't push himself against her just to feel Lila push back. He couldn't reassure himself that she was alive until she was back in their bed. And she always came back.

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Her phone was off. Or she was on it. She was late. Spencer had been at the airport terminal for over an hour waiting for her to stroll past those automatic doors and into his arms. His bubbly tanned wife didn't appear however and instantly panic rose up his throat like bile.

After making sure his car was locked for the millionth time, he rushed to the ticket counter to inquire if she ever made it on her flight. At first the man behind the counter was unwilling to share such classified information but after being yelled at and seeing Spencer's FBI id and badge, he nodded silently and pulled up the proper information.

"It seems Miss Archer never made her flight, sir. Shall I call the airport and see if she took a later flight?" Spencer shook his head, backing away from the counter, his hands shaking.

The man stepped forward to try to comfort the stranger in front of him, but Spencer turned and fled. He jumped in his car and dialed Garcia's number.

"Garcia, I need you to look up flights coming out of the LAX and see if Lila was on any of them." He listened to the sound of her comforting key strokes and hoped that she'd find that Lila was on one of them.

"Honey, the only ticket she bought was the flight that just landed. She never made it. Reid, is everything okay?" She heard a sharp inhale of breathe and shivered involuntarily.

"If that changes, if she buys another ticket, please call me as soon as you can." He hung up the phone without a word of goodbye and sat in the seat staring out the dashboard. Were his nightmares finally coming true? Did he plot Lila's demise?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: As you can see, I'm setting you up to be royally pissed off at me. But you must know, I'm in love with this pairing and at this point, am planning a happy ending. Chapter three will come only after a review or two. I don't know if anyone's really reading this but would love to know your feedback. **


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